


Paper or Plastic

by larrymylove



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-31 18:58:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3989113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larrymylove/pseuds/larrymylove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A very impatient Louis Tomlinson is stuck in line at the grocery store, with the slowest cashier ever. And of course, that cashier just happens to be Harry Styles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Last night I took two Benadryl (allergies are the worst!) and passed out. When I woke up, this idea was in my mind. And I knew I had to write it. This will be a three-parter which I will complete tonight. And then once this is complete, I will work on updating my other stories. So expect updates for those tonight and tomorrow and all weekend. I know I have been so far behind and that's inexcusable. But I'm actually really inspired tonight and can't wait to keep writing for you all.
> 
> This is just a cute little three-shot. I might change the writing, but y'all know me. I don't really write any smut - fluff is more of my pace. Anyway, I really, really like this story and I hope you do too! Because it's making me smile to write, and I hope it makes you smile to read :)

 

Louis Tomlinson is late. And if there’s one thing Louis hates, it’s being late. Being late, losing at Mario Kart, running out of milk for his Cocoa Pops, people who put sugar in their tea, and incompetent cashiers. The last being the cause of Louis being late today. It was his best friend, Zayn’s, birthday. And of course, Louis had put off shopping to the last minute. Now, as he was already supposed to be on the road to the bar, Louis was stuck in line at Jason’s Market with a bottle of Merlot, a shiny red gift bag, and a tacky birthday card that played “Play That Funky Music” at an obnoxious volume.

He was supposed to be on the road. Not stuck in line. And he was growing more and more impatient with each passing minute. He could have very well gone to the self-checkers, but yeah. No. Louis’d tried those before and each time he’d ended up smacking them and muttering curses and just overall being more pissed off that usual. So yeah, those weren’t an option. Louis had gotten into this line, assuming it’d be the quickest. Big mistake.

As he was standing there, he was thinking up a million things to say to the cashier once it was his turn. Starters being, firing the incompetent bastard. Louis was generally a nice bloke. And he understood that some people were new and required more training. But Louis himself had started out as a cashier and had done excellently at it. Therefore, he expected everyone else’s performance to be the same.

Louis wondered who in the hell had hired the moron in the first place. He obviously hadn’t. Probably had been Niall, his assistant manager. Sometimes Louis let him handle the hiring if he couldn’t be bothered to do it himself. And Niall never liked to turn anyone away. Which could be a problem. Like right now.

Louis tapped his foot on the tile flooring and rolled his eyes obnoxiously. He couldn’t even see who the new guy was, but his arse was getting fired for sure. Louis couldn’t stand incompetency. He dug his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time. Great. He was supposed to be there by now. Zayn was going to chew him out for sure. Which was the last thing he needed. Maybe he should have snatched up a more expensive bottle of wine? Louis was growing more angry now.

It was his day off. He didn’t want to spoil it by having to fire someone. But this was getting out of hand. There was a stream of people lined up behind him, only two people in front of him. Now Louis had a better look at the gent who was behind the register. Okay. That certainly was going to make things a little bit more difficult. The boy behind the register - okay, he was clearly not much younger than Louis, but his face was still very boyish - had brown curly hair and rosy cheeks flushed with embarrassment at his pitiful performance. He kept biting his bottom lip, painfully hard, making it plump and blood-red. Louis swallowed hard. None of this changed the fact that this wanker was going to fired though.

Louis kept his eyes on the boy. He was reaching for a carton of eggs. Louis winced. He knew something bad was going to happen. He just _knew_. And yup. Sure enough, as if on cue, the boy scanned the carton and set it too roughly on the conveyer belt. He bit his bottom lip again and nervously opened the carton to check on the state of the eggs. The customer was fuming. And the boy winced at what he saw. Louis didn’t even want to look. He really didn’t. But he did. And three eggs were broken. _Three!_ Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. This boy was a bloody disaster!

And then the customer shouted, “Are you fucking stupid or something?”

Alright. That was just a tad unnecessary. Sure, Louis had been thinking the same thing. And he was going to fire this dim-wit in a heartbeat. But he wasn’t going to shout at him like that, or call him stupid. No matter what insults were running through his head. And the boy paled. The blush was still bright red against his now sheet-white face. And he bit his lip so hard that Louis was worried he’d bite through the thing. His eyes went very wide and Louis rolled his own when he saw the boy’s fill with tears. This had gone from a disaster to a complete and utter crisis. If there was one thing Louis couldn’t stand - among being late, losing at Mario Kart, etc. etc. - it was seeing people cry. Especially pretty boys.

Louis inhaled sharply and finally made his presence known, “That’s not necessary, sir. It was an accident,” turning to the cashier - Harry, according to his name tag - Louis said, “Page someone to go get you another carton of eggs.”

“Bloody idiot,” the customer muttered and now the boy was attempting to remedy the situation.

“I’m...I’m so sorry,” he said, his voice was very quiet as he dialed the intercom for someone to fetch him another carton, “It was an accident. It’s my first day. I’m so, so sorry…”

“I don’t care if it’s your first day. You’re a complete _idiot._ ”

If Louis wasn’t holding things, he was certain his hands would be fists. He was about to intervene when suddenly a boy - Louis thinks his name is Peter - runs over with a new carton of eggs. Harry carefully hands the eggs to the bag boy who puts them into the customer’s paper sack. The customer leaves without another word. Doesn’t even take his receipt. One more customer, and then it’s Louis’ turn.

The woman has just a few items. It should be his turn soon. And then he go and celebrate Zayn’s birthday with plenty of alcohol and forget all about this horrible past twenty minutes. Louis knows he could have gone to another line, but after a point in time he was determined to give this new guy a good talking to. And then give Niall a similar talking to. He swore that kid would hire anyone! And apparently, he did. Louis was never going to trust him to hire anyone after this disaster.

The lady paid for her items in cash. When Harry went to hand her her change, he - _of fucking course_ \- dropped some of it. The woman just waved him off, insisting she didn’t want it. He then came around the front of the register, gathering up the dropped coins. A penny had rolled over towards the other register. And Louis watched curiously as Harry bent over to pick it up, almost tripping another customer. Louis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. This boy was a walking disaster.

“Your penny,” Harry insisted, holding it out to the woman who was now trying to walk away.

“I told you, I don’t want it.”

“But…”

“Keep it! I’m running late. I _don’t_ want it.”

Harry looked at the dejected penny between his fingers for a moment before coming back around to his register. It was finally Louis’ turn. He looked down at the penny once more, then held it out to Louis. Louis raised his brow.

“What the hell do you want me to do with that?” Louis asked.

“She didn’t want it,” Harry mumbled, “And you know...find a penny, pick it up; and all day long, you’ll have good luck. I picked it up. She didn’t want it. I’m passing it on to you.”

Louis sighed, “Just keep it. I’m late. Just scan my items so I can go. Are you always so bloody incompetent?”

Harry bit his bottom lip again and didn’t say anything as he scanned Louis’ items. And Louis really should have fired him by now. Or at least told him that he’s the manager. But he doesn’t. Instead, he just watches Harry’s ginormous hands carefully - _very carefully_ \- lift each of his items to scan them. And Louis suddenly feels very uncomfortable at the thought of firing the poor kid.

“I don’t know if I want you to touch that,” Louis mused as Harry went for the wine bottle, “You might break it.”

And Louis was kidding. He _was_. Okay, maybe only _half_ kidding. But the boy looks up anyway with his eyes swimming in tears and Louis suddenly feels very much like shit. And any and all thoughts of firing Harry were out the window.

“Hey, hey no, don’t do that,” Louis hissed, he glanced back at the line behind him, “It’s your first day, right? Everyone’s first day is rough,” his wasn’t, but that’s beside the point, “You just have to work through it. You’ll be fine.”

“I’m a disaster,” Harry groaned, and Louis didn’t exactly argue because well, yeah, he was.

“You just are learning the ropes is all,” Louis tried to sound as calm and comforting as possible, “It is your first day, right? I’ve never seen you here before. Did Niall hire you?” Louis has no idea why he doesn’t just tell Harry that he’s the manager. Maybe it’s because the poor boy already looks terrified out of his mind, and Louis certainly doesn’t want to scare him any further. Which, he’s sure if it were any other person, he’d have handed his arse to him by now.

“No, Jason.”

“Jason,” Louis responds flatly, wondering who the fuck Jason was.

Then Harry points to the name printed on his apron he’s wearing, “Jason.”

Shit. Jason. As in Jason Hughes. The owner of Jason’s Market. So there goes any and all chances of firing this kid. Not that Louis was even sure he was going to. But still. Now he was _definitely_ stuck with him on his team. And he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

As if to explain, Harry continues, “I’m his grandson.”

“Ah,” Louis nodded. A customer behind them starts tapping his foot and Louis nods to the wine bottle - the last item for Harry to scan, “You should hurry up though, Harold. Can’t keep the customers waiting.”

“It’s just Harry,” Harry says, scanning the wine bottle. Louis hands him his ID and Harry types in the birth date into the computer system. After it goes through he says Louis’ total and Louis hands him the cash to pay for his items.

Harry goes to make the change, and Louis says, “Don’t drop any of that now,” and he winks to make sure Harry knows he’s not being mean.

Harry smiles, and _Jesus_ , he’s got _dimples_. Dimples as deep as _craters_. And Louis suddenly feels as though he could use a very stiff drink.

“Here,” Harry insists, giving Louis his change that includes the penny from earlier, “And keep the penny. For luck!” He’s smiling still, dimples on display. And Louis can’t help but smile back.

“Okay then, Harold,” he says. He takes his bags from Keith, the bag boy, and deposits the change into his pocket; careful to put the penny in his other pocket - not wanting it to get lost with the other change.

Harry giggles and Louis swears to God, he’s never heard anything so beautiful. And it makes him giggle too. But there is a line. And customers are waiting. He gives Harry a little solute and heads out to his car. He does have a party to go to, and he is quite late now anyway.


	2. Two

“Man,” Zayn slid into the seat next to Louis, “You have it bad, don’t you?”

Louis frowned, brows knitting together. He was nursing his third scotch of the night. And he really had tried to push all thoughts of Harry Styles from his head. Which was difficult and he’d proven unsuccessful. But he really had put forth an effort to enjoy Zayn’s party. He gave him the bottle of Merlot, and the card which had delighted their friend Niall but earned Louis a dangerous glance from Zayn and Liam. But overall, he’d been participating right? It wasn't like he was just sitting there, off by himself, brooding about Harry, right? Absolutely not. That would be weird. Nope. No brooding here. Move along.

“What do you mean?” Louis asked, trying to sound coy.

“I mean you’ve been sitting here most of the night, drinking scotch, with that frown on your face. Why so glum, chum?”

Louis rolled his eyes, not really in the mood for Zayn's pestering, “Just a new kid at the store. He’s pretty incompetent.”

“Yikes. You gonna fire him?”

“No, can’t. He’s Jason’s grandson. So there’s like...that. I’m stuck with him.”

“But that’s not all that’s troubling you.”

“Don’t you have a party to enjoy?” Louis asked, smiling over the rim of his glass as he took a sip. Take the hint, Zayn. Move along, like a good lad.

“Party can wait. We’re talking about this. So...what’s the kid’s name? What does he look like? How far gone are you for him?”

“Zayn!” Louis protested, because that was just not acceptable at all, “None of that matters, and I am not gone for him. He’s an annoyance to me and nothing more. He makes the customers angry and he actually cried today when some guy yelled at him. I just don’t know what to do with him. He's an absolute disaster! A walking tornado! I don't even know what to do with the kid."

“Oh, as if you don’t have ideas blooming up in that head of yours,” Zayn laughed, taking a drink of his martini, “You and I both know you by now, Lou. You’re head over heels for this bloke. And you can’t even admit it,” Zayn tapped his temple, “But I know.”

“You’re drunk,” Louis laughed, patting Zayn on the shoulder, “You don’t know what you speak of.”

“I know when my best friend in the entire world has it bad for someone. No matter how sloshed I am. Now then, I’m off to round up another martini. You just sit there not thinking of your boy.”

Louis muttered out a strew of curses, but Zayn was already off to go find another drink. How did he know Louis so well? Louis cursed himself for picking out excellent friends who knew him like the back of their hands. So what if he did think Harry was attractive? That didn’t change the fact that he was still a piss-poor cashier. And what was he supposed to do with that? He couldn’t have the moron dropping and breaking eggs everyday. Kid was a liability. A thorn in Louis’ side. And there seemed to be nothing he could do about it.

As if reading his mind, Zayn came back over, leaning down over Louis’ shoulder and saying into his ear, “You know, you could train him. You _are_ the manager after all. Sort of your job.”

Louis was about to tell Zayn to fuck off but he was laughing and heading over to talk to Liam. Louis bothered his bottom lip between his teeth. He _could_ train him. Technically Harry was supposed to have already received training - but then again, maybe corners had been cut considering the blatant nepotism that was taking place under Louis' nose. Louis downed the last of his scotch. Very well then. His only option was going to be to train Harry. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to go easy on the kid.

\--

When Louis arrived to Jason’s the following morning, he was nursing a hangover. His head was pounding and he was thankful when Niall slid a cup of steaming, strong, black coffee across his desk to him. Louis glanced up, smiling his thanks, and taking a sip. He was more of a tea person, but tea just didn’t fix hangovers like coffee.

“So, tell me about Harry,” Louis muttered, sorting through the papers on his desk.

“He started yesterday,” Niall shrugged, “Don’t know much else. Jason went behind the both of us to hire the bloke. I never even spoke much to him yesterday. Hasn’t gone through training from what I’ve seen. He dropped a bag of milk and it exploded all over the place," Niall laughed loudly in that Niall belly-laugh. Then he froze, staring down at his hands folded in his lap guiltily, "Which...actually wasn't funny at all."

“Christ,” Louis hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose; so it was worse than he’d thought. “Yesterday, when I was in line, he practically threw a carton of eggs on the conveyer belt. Broke three of them. When the customer got mad, he cried.”

“Lou…” Niall warned, and Louis didn’t like that tone at all. He didn’t like it when people were going to lecture him. It was always a waste of their time anyway, considering he usually just did the opposite of whatever he was told. But Niall continued, “...try not to flay the kid alive, will you? He’s kind of klutzy, but he’s a sweetheart. He really does want to do well. I think...I think it’d be more proactive to build him up instead of break him down.”

Louis wanted to tell Niall he didn’t really give to shits what he thought, but this was Niall. So Louis held his tongue. Surprisingly. “Alright, Nialler,” Louis sighed, “I’ll try not to completely skin the kid alive. But I get results my way and my way is to break someone down then build them back up brick by brick. It’s a process. But the Tommo Way has never let me down before.”

“Great,” Niall rolled his eyes lovingly, “The Tommo Way. Ya know, mate. The Tommo Way seems to only be good for you, and no one else.”

“And that’s why it’s the best,” Louis grinned, taking a sip of his coffee, “Alright, alright. Let me just finish this up,” he gave the paper cup a little shake, “and then I’ll get myself down on the floor to work with Harry.”

“Be gentle,” Niall warned, standing up from the chair and moving to head towards the stairs.

“Gentle,” Louis scoffed, “They don’t call it ‘whipping into shape’ because you’re gentle.”

Niall just sighed and headed down to the floor. Louis smirked and took another sip of his coffee. There was no way he was going to go easy on Harry. Harry needed to learn the ropes. No one had gone easy on him, and he’d been Employee of The Month every month since he’d been hired. And then he’d been promoted to Assistant Manager, then Manager all within the span of four months of being hired. And sure, when he’d taken this job he hadn’t seen it as anything much. But he thrived off of being good at something - being a leader. It was what he was good at. He’d get Harry into shape. Louis never lost when it came to a challenge.

After finishing his coffee, he tossed the cup into the waste basket and headed downstairs to the floor. It was still early, but that was when a lot of the Stay at Home Moms came with their brood of kids to do their shopping. So it was pretty busy. No time for slacking. And Louis spotted him almost instantly. He was standing at his register, doe-eyed and chewing through his lip. He looked completely scared shitless. And Louis sighed because that just frankly wasn’t going to do.

He came up behind Harry and slid into the cubby of the register, “I’m training you. Tired of watching you fuck up time and time again. You need proper training. So welcome to Tommo Bootcamp.”

“You... _you’re_ the manager?” Harry let out a little squeak which Louis did not find endearing whatsoever - he really didn’t.

“Yes sir,” Louis gave a little solute, “Louis Tomlinson, at your service. And I’m going to whip you into shape, Harold, if it is the last thing I do.”

Harry gulped visibly but didn’t protest at the nickname, “I’m sorry I’m such a disaster. I feel like I can’t do anything right!”

“Oh, Harold,” Louis t’sked, “I am sure there’s _some_ things you’re not a complete failure at. Lucky for you though, you have me here to help you. Now then, turn on your light to let the customers know your lane is open.”

“I-I don’t want them to yell at me again. What the man said yesterday...I just don’t want that.”

Louis sighed. He tried to sound annoyed as he said, “No one is going to yell at you. I’m right here. And if they do, well then they’ll just have to yell at me instead. And I don’t take too kindly to people yelling at me. I tend to yell back. Twice as loud. And use words that make sailors blush,” Louis nudged Harry a little with his hip, shooting him a wink. And that did the trick. Harry was smiling, dimples in full force, as he turned the light on above his register.

“But,” Louis added as Harry adjusted his apron, “Just because I’m going to watch out for you, protect you from arsehole customers, doesn’t mean that I’m not going to hold back from kicking your arse. Got that?”

Harry gulped and nodded. A woman with three little kids in her shopping car came up to their lane. Louis smiled and cooed at the little ones in the cart. He had a soft spot for kids. A pretty large soft spot for kids actually.

“Hi, little ones,” Louis smiled, then said to Harry, “Start by ringing up each item from her cart and be careful with them. Watch for what’s fragile and pay attention, Harold. Don’t worry about bagging. That’s what the bag boys are for. You just focus on scanning and being gentle with each time. Watch the fruit, watch the fruit,” Louis warned as Harry roughly handled a bag of peaches, “You have to be gentle. You don’t want to wreck peoples’ items they’re paying for.”

Harry nodded, glancing up every once in awhile to smile at the kids in the cart.

“What’s your name?” Louis asked the little girl.

“Anna,” she said with a shy smile.

“Well, Ana. It’s lovely to meet you!”

The little girl blushed and shrugged her face into her shoulder. Her mom smiled at Louis and said, “She’s a little shy. Not these two though,” she waved to the two little boys with them as well, “Quite the opposite it’d seem.”

“What’s your name?” One of the boys asked Louis, in a quite accusatory voice.

“Louis,” Louis remarked, “Is that okay?”

“No. Your name now is…”

“Eugene!” The other boy shouted.

“Eugene! Your name is now Eugene.”

“Boys,” their mother sighed, but Louis smiled, letting her know that it was okay. He had siblings at home. He was not deterred by children in the least.

Harry managed to successfully ring the woman up without spilling, dropping, breaking, shattering, or ruining anything. And Louis felt a small swell of pride which he swallowed down as quickly as possible because, no. Just...no. And Harry beamed and waved goodbye to the woman and her children and Louis did the same. When they were gone, Harry whispered under his breath -

“What’s next, Eugene?”

Louis let out an indignant little squawk, “Okay, no. You do _not_ have permission to call me Eugene. Only precious little angels under the age of seven have that privilege. And you, despite your baby-face, are _not_ a precious little angel, nor are you under the age of seven. And if you do dare to call me Eugene, I’ll make you regret it.”

“So threatening,” Harry smiled, and then he actually patted Louis on the head. And that just wasn’t going to fly either. Because Louis did not take too kindly to people drawing awareness to his short stature.

“I swear to God, Harold. I will break every finger of that hand if you don’t take it off my head this instant!”

Harry bit back a smile that was creeping across his face. And Louis shook his head, realizing that against all will, that he was smiling too. And maybe Zayn really hadn’t been off base. Maybe Louis really did have it bad. Surely not though, right?

“If I have to be Harold you have to be Eugene."

“Nope, don’t think so,” Louis smirked, “Not how it works, Harold. Now then, here comes another customer. Handle the fruit with care, Harold. Don’t bruise anything and for god sakes, don’t break this person’s eggs!”

Harry nodded and smiled warmly as he greeted the customer. He carefully followed Louis’ instructions. And when he failed to recall the keycode for kale, Louis helped him search for the item number in the computer catalog - without being too impatient. And Harry handed the man his change without dropping a single penny. Overall, a success!

“You’re getting better,” Louis nodded his approval, “Might be able to add ‘cashier’ to that list of things you don’t complete suck at.”

But Louis had spoken too soon. And Harry had gotten a little overly confident. And when the next customer came to the line, Harry got a little overzealous and knocked a glass bottle of tea to the ground. It shattered instantly, and liquid went everywhere. And for a moment, everyone froze. Louis could have snapped. He could have yelled at Harry. And quite frankly, it was tempting. However, he reached down and grabbed the industrial roll of paper towels from beneath the register and crouched down on the tile floor to mop up the mess.

“Ring someone to go fetch another bottle,” Louis instructed, his voice surprisingly calm, “I’ve got this.”

Harry nodded, but his face was sheet-white, his eyes wide. He turned back to the customer, “I am so, so sorry, sir. I am still learning. It’s my second day and I am really so sorry about that.”

“Can’t this store hire competent employees?” The man asked, and Louis glanced up from where he was mopping up the mess to see Harry visibly shake. Okay, this wasn’t okay.

“I-I’m so sorry…”

“I don’t care. I don’t have all day to stand here because you can’t do your fucking job…”

Louis popped up from his place on the floor and smiled as cheerfully as he could at the enraged customer, “Hello, sir! I’m the store manager and I’m training this new employee. And training requires that I stand back here with him and watch him. It can be a little cramped. And I do apologize for bumping into him, causing him to thumble your tea. If you’d like to, we can file a complaint against me right now. And I’ll be sure to review it once this shift ends and see to it that I punish myself adequately.”

The man just gaped. Then, after a moment said, “Just...just forget the tea. Here…” he handed Louis the correct amount of cash for his total, “Just...forget it. I’m going to go.”

“Louis!” Harry squealed, kneeling down next to where Louis had just continued mopping up the mess, “That was brilliant! You really didn’t have to take the fall for me like that. But thank you!”

“Didn’t do it for you,” Louis mumbled, knowing it was a complete and utter lie, “Just didn’t want to deal with that fucking loser. Besides, you looked properly on the verge of tears. And no one can make my employees cry. That is a privilege reserved for me and only me!” And he punctuated the remark with a wink.

\--

Harry’s first shift had ended and it was now time for his break. Louis didn’t know why, but he’d suggested they get sandwiches from the deli and eat outside on the outdoor patio together. It seemed like the proper thing to do. Besides, he was just being polite right? Being a good manager. And that’s what he told himself when he paid for Harry’s ham and cheese - that he was just doing his duties as a good leader.

But a little shoulder conscience of Zayn popped up and whispered in his ear, “Lou, you’re so far gone that it’s not even funny.”

And Louis mentally hissed at him to go fuck himself, and sat down at one of the patio tables with Harry. Harry munched on his sandwich and chips, staring thoughtfully someplace far away and Louis kept his eye on his roast beef and cheddar because quite frankly, if he looked up, he wasn't too sure he’d be able to peel his eyes off Harry. And that was a risk he wasn’t going to take.

So when he asked, “Harry, tell me a bit about yourself,” he kept his eyes on his bag of chips and not on the boy sitting across from him.

“Well,” Harry coughed slightly, “My previous job sort of fell through. And I needed the work. So my grandpa set me up here. He let me start yesterday, insisting that I didn’t need training because ‘it was in my blood.’ Guess he was wrong about that,” he blushed slightly, “I’m kind of new to this area. I used to live further in town, but when I lost my last job, couldn’t afford the rent.”

“Let me guess, were you fired?” Louis asked, and he regretted it the moment he said it. Because Harry looked so stricken and Louis wanted to take it back, but didn’t say anything. Sorries weren’t really his thing, and usually when he apologized, he tended to muck things up worse. So he just kept quiet.

“I was not fired,” Harry’s voice was very level as he spoke, “I worked at a florist. But the woman I worked for got ill and could no longer handle the business. She was bought out by a large company. And large companies are not my thing. So I sought work elsewhere. And I will have you know I was an excellent florist. I just had to go through the learning process. Like I am here. Give me a little time, and I’ll be the best damn cashier you’ve ever seen, Lewis.”

Louis took a sip of his Coke, not smiling with pride absolutely at all, “We’ll see about that, Harold.”

\--

The day was drawing to a close. And it’d been quite successful. All Harry really needed was someone there helping him out a bit. By the end of the day, he’d been doing fantastically. Nothing else was broken or spilled. He didn’t drop any change. And he was actually picking up his speed. So what if Louis was a little proud, sue him. He had every right to be.

There was just five more minutes left on Harry’s shift and then Louis could dismiss him. Five more minutes and that was when Zayn decided to come get into their line. And Louis locked eyes with him and dared him to fucking try something. Because quite frankly, Harry and Louis had been having fun together. After their second break, they’d actually laughed together and nudged hips back and forth and Louis had even been slightly bold enough to jab Harry’s side with his fingers for calling him Eugene for the hundredth time that day. And things had been going well. _Really_ well. And if Zayn Malik was going to try anything to screw that up…

“Louis!” Zayn called, strolling over with his overflowing basket of items. And Louis could just tell by looking that none of the items were anything Zayn needed and that this was all a ploy for him to come to Jason’s and see Harry. And as if on cue, Zayn turned to Harry and said, “You must be the new cashier! Louis’ mentioned you. I'm Zayn.”

And Louis froze for a moment, turning from Harry to Zayn and mouthing, “Shut your trap.”

Harry coughed slightly and asked, “Well I hope he didn’t say anything too horrible.”

“Not at all,” Zayn assured him, “You have nothing to worry about, love. Louis seems to be quite taken with you.”

“Zayn!” Louis coughed into his fist, “Paper or plastic?”

“Surprise me, love,” Zayn grinned and Harry fumbled with several cartons of yogurt. Zayn didn’t even eat yogurt. Louis glared at him.

“So, Harry. You know Louis and you know Niall. And I know Louis and I know Niall. And I’m having a get-together at my place tomorrow night. Pizza, movies, beer. And you are welcome to come if you want. Just let me know. The more the merrier, right, Lou?”

“Right,” Louis mumbled.

“Um...sounds fun. When and where?”

“Tomorrow night, around seven o’clock. Louis, why don’t you give Harry a ride tomorrow night. After your shifts finish? Since you already know where I live. And it’d save on gas, etc.”

Louis swore he felt steam coming from his ears but he nodded anyway because he didn’t want Harry to feel like he was an inconvenience, “Sure, would love that.” And Louis was glad he’d chosen to say that, because Harry seemed to blossom right there next to him.

“Great,” Zayn grinned, “It’ll be awesome. Glad you can come, H. Louis, I’ll talk to you later!”

Once Zayn left Harry turned to Louis and asked, worry flooding his eyes, “It won’t be weird, will it? Should I have said no?”

“What are you off about?” Louis asked, closing out the register for the night.

“You’re my boss. And Niall is my boss. And Zayn just invited me to hang out with you guys. I shouldn’t have said yes. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

“Hazza,” Louis turned to him, wondering where the hell that nickname had come from, “Do _you_ want to come tomorrow night?”

Harry looked down at his scuffy sneakers, “Yeah. I do.”

“Well then _we_ want you to come,” and before Louis could even stop himself - “ _I_ want you to come.”


End file.
